As reported in past editions of SoundWaves, Sound is in expansion mode. Like many other projects around our community, however, the pandemic’s impact has caused delays in those plans, which include relocating to existing buildings and constructing entirely new facilities from the ground up.
While Sound did successfully open its Snoqualmie location in September 2021, other locations like Totem Lake, Crossroads, Redmond and planned construction in Auburn have experienced barriers to planned openings.
“Covid is still impacting many of our suppliers,” says Guy Delisi, Vice President & Chief Operations Officer, whose department is overseeing expansion and facilities projects. “But we’ve been making sure to order materials in advance to get around potential delays.”
- Totem Lake: Though Sound did sign a lease for the Totem Lake facility, the City of Kirkland placed a parking requirement on the location that the property management agency has not been able to address. Sound has had to step back from that agreement, turning attention to its central eastside locations, Crossroads.
- Crossroads: That facility is currently under lease, site plans and architectural work is completed and construction is commencing. The plan is to open the 10,000 square foot facility sometime in mid to late summer 2022.
- Redmond, The Together Center: Sound and other providers vacated the Together Center in 2020. The old Together Center complex was torn down and a new one, that will now include housing, is in the midst of construction. However, the concrete strike that has caused delays in multiple region-wide projects, has also impacted the Together Center construction. It is still looking to be completed, with a new Sound facility, in the first or second quarter of 2023.
- Enhanced Service Facility (ESF): After an additional budgeting process to secure more funding from the state was completed last year, for a facility in Auburn, we proceeded with completing the architectural design and obtaining design approval from the Department of Health. The City of Auburn has issued a building permit, which will allow us to proceed with construction of the 16-bed facility. ESFs are small, community-based inpatient residential facilities for individuals with complex mental health and medical needs. Construction began in April and is expected to be completed in December of 2022. Again, the concrete strike may cause delays in completing the project as planned.
We will update readers in a future edition of SoundWaves regarding the status of this project.